YOUR VIEW: Romney should explain comments about Hispanics

In response to the release of the Mitt Romney video, much of the attention has focused on his now famous remark that "there are 47 percent who are with (President Barack Obama), who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims" and who would never vote for Romney. He went on to say "so my job is not to worry about those people -- I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

As reprehensible as it was for Romney to disregard and disrespect nearly half the electorate, it was his remarks concerning African-American and Hispanic voters that I found equally disturbing. While the mainstream media have focused on his "joke" regarding his chances of winning if he had Mexican parents, I have seen very little focus on his far more dangerous and ominous comments regarding African-American and Hispanic voting trends.

While discussing what groups support him, Romney said, "So we can capture the women's votes; we're having a much harder time with Hispanic voters. And if the Hispanic voting bloc becomes as committed to the Democrats as the African-American voting bloc has in the past, we're in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation."

No one has asked Romney to explain exactly what trouble the nation will be in if Hispanic citizens, exercising their constitutional right, happen to vote predominantly Democratic. I certainly understand his concerns for his party, but what is the threat to the nation? Is the nation in trouble because the Republican Party is predominantly white?

Since 2008, Republican-led state legislatures have engaged in voter suppression targeting groups that don't support them, and Romney's comments suggest this may be their road map for the future.